Is Eating Low Carb Expensive?

As someone on a low income (just the basic State Pension - which I am told is the lowest in Europe!), I have been considering the costs of eating low carb.

I am frequently told that high carbs are cheap, and it is just too costly to change. Certainly our supermarkets have aisles and aisles of bright and aggressively marketed carbs. First of all, cakes, biscuits, crisps etc. Eating low carb, you are just going to give these up - so that's a saving rather than extra expense!

Breakfast cereals swapped for Greek yoghurt, or eggs and bacon are just about cost neutral in my reckoning. Rice - swapped for cauliflower, pasta swapped for courgettes, maybe a slight increase when these veg are out of season, but nothing drastic. Aldi sell 250g of prepared cauli rice for 79p, or make your own and save a little (but be prepared for a messy kitchen!)

A very important issue that must be factored in to cost is the carb addiciton problem, the more you eat, the more you want to eat! I have never been able to open a pack of biscuits without finishing the lot (before they go soft I tell myself). And cake, don't talk to me about cake. Take a delicious shop bought carrot cake, serves 8 the label says - who are they kidding. My husband and I can finish such a cake off in one sitting, and be back in store a few days later for another! (It contains carrots so there must be some goodness in it!) But there are major savings to be had when you finally banish those carb cravings.

Give low carb a little time (probably took me a year or so) portion sizes automatically get a little smaller and become very satisfying with no cravings within an hour or so of eating, (see that saving element creeping in again?)

Low carb shopping consists of lots of yummy veg, shop in season or snap up bags of frozen veg - Farmfoods frequently have large bags of veg on offer at 6 for £5, and fruit such as cherries, raspberries, blueberries at 3 for £5. Bacon, good quality mince and sausages, chicken, steak for a special treat make up the rest. With a little bit forethought my low carb shopping is certainly no more expensive than my previous carb laden supermarket sweep.

I have been very pleasantly surprised that our food bill is neutral and possibly a bit cheaper since going high fat/ low carb. As you say I eat less quantity but far superior quality. I used to be ravenous most of the time and think nothing of stopping at the co-op on the way home, buying a 100g bag of crisps and eating the lot! Dinners with a large portion of rice would leave me searching for more food once I had finished so often we would pop again to the corner shop and buy chocolate "treats". Food is far more enjoyable now because I can taste it. When I was really bad with sweet foods my actual saliva would taste sweet. Yuk!!

I am with you all of the way. The other things that I have noticed is the shorter time it takes to do a shop and the disappearance of impulse buying which was usually down to buying 'treats' or BOGOFs.

My biggest expense was the initial outlay when I started low carb baking but have found don’t need to re stock often and I do because I enjoy baking and means I can have a few treats along the way but it’s an optional luxury not essential and I know a lot of low carbers don’t do it. . I’m definitely saving money otherwise though - we don’t eat as many veggies and little fruit now so like you I tend to buy frozen veg and berries which are cheaper and less waste. I definitely wasted some fresh veggies and fruit before so that’s a save for us and the environment! Oily fish and fatty meat too tends to be cheaper. I also don’t eat as much and have fasting periods which cuts costs down. Overall now 11 months on I’d say now I’m in the swing it’s about the same cost wise especially if buy baking items in bigger packs. At beginning I was concerned about cost but didn’t factor in what we were not buying and wasting.

As someone on a low income (just the basic State Pension - which I am told is the lowest in Europe!), I have been considering the costs of eating low carb.

I am frequently told that high carbs are cheap, and it is just too costly to change. Certainly our supermarkets have aisles and aisles of bright and aggressively marketed carbs. First of all, cakes, biscuits, crisps etc. Eating low carb, you are just going to give these up - so that's a saving rather than extra expense!

Breakfast cereals swapped for Greek yoghurt, or eggs and bacon are just about cost neutral in my reckoning. Rice - swapped for cauliflower, pasta swapped for courgettes, maybe a slight increase when these veg are out of season, but nothing drastic. Aldi sell 250g of prepared cauli rice for 79p, or make your own and save a little (but be prepared for a messy kitchen!)

A very important issue that must be factored in to cost is the carb addiciton problem, the more you eat, the more you want to eat! I have never been able to open a pack of biscuits without finishing the lot (before they go soft I tell myself). And cake, don't talk to me about cake. Take a delicious shop bought carrot cake, serves 8 the label says - who are they kidding. My husband and I can finish such a cake off in one sitting, and be back in store a few days later for another! (It contains carrots so there must be some goodness in it!) But there are major savings to be had when you finally banish those carb cravings.

Give low carb a little time (probably took me a year or so) portion sizes automatically get a little smaller and become very satisfying with no cravings within an hour or so of eating, (see that saving element creeping in again?)

Low carb shopping consists of lots of yummy veg, shop in season or snap up bags of frozen veg - Farmfoods frequently have large bags of veg on offer at 6 for £5, and fruit such as cherries, raspberries, blueberries at 3 for £5. Bacon, good quality mince and sausages, chicken, steak for a special treat make up the rest. With a little bit forethought my low carb shopping is certainly no more expensive than my previous carb laden supermarket sweep.

I'm still not quite used to that weird feeling in the supermarket where you cruise through sections and don't even look at anything, still feels odd! Cereals, crisps, chocolate etc Go me

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IT gets even better when you save the time of walking down that aisle and skip along to the ones that have the products you want. That works until the Spring, when the supermarket manager decides to move everything round and you can not find what you want.